An apparatus and method are provided for searching content. The electronic device includes a display; an audio processing unit; and a controller configured to control the audio processing unit to output sound of first content from a foreground of the display at a preset foreground volume, detect a request to search for second content, and in response to the detected request, control the audio processing unit to simultaneously output sound of the second content from a background of the display at a preset background volume with the sound of the first content. The preset foreground volume differs from preset background volume.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection. Each claim is shown in both the original legal language and a plain English translation.
1. An electronic device comprising: a display; an audio processing unit; and a controller configured to: control the audio processing unit to output sound of first content from a foreground at a preset foreground volume, detect a request to search for second content, in response to the detected request, control the audio processing unit to simultaneously output sound of the second content from a background at a preset background volume with the sound of the first content, detect a request to select the second content while simultaneously outputting the sounds of the first content and the second content; and in response to the request to select the second content, switch the second content to the foreground and control the audio processing unit to output only the sound of the second content from the foreground, wherein the preset foreground volume differs from preset background volume.
An electronic device lets you listen to two audio sources at once. It plays the first audio source from the foreground (current app/screen) at a normal volume. When you search for a second audio source, the device plays its audio quietly in the background along with the first audio. If you select the second audio source, it becomes the main focus, switching to the foreground and playing at the normal volume, while the first audio stops. The foreground volume is always louder than the background volume.
2. The electronic device of claim 1 , further comprising a storage unit for storing the preset foreground volume and the preset background volume, wherein the preset foreground volume is greater than the preset background volume.
The electronic device described above also stores the foreground and background volumes in a storage unit. The preset foreground volume is louder than the preset background volume, so you can clearly hear the main content while previewing the second content.
3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: detect a request to return to the first content while simultaneously outputting the sounds of the first content and the second content; and control the audio processing unit to stop outputting the sound of the second content, in response to the request to return to the first content.
In the electronic device described in the first audio playback claim, while listening to the first audio and the second audio quietly in the background, you can choose to return to only listening to the first audio. When you do so, the second audio will stop playing, allowing you to focus solely on the original content.
4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the request to search for the second content when a particular button is pressed a preset number of times.
The electronic device described in the first audio playback claim detects the request to search for the second content by recognizing when a specific button on the device is pressed a certain number of times. For example, double-pressing the search button could trigger the background audio search.
5. The electronic device of claim 4 , wherein the controller is configured to detect the request to select in response to a user input or when the second content is played over a preset period of time.
In the electronic device where searching for content is done by double-pressing the search button, the device can also detect your intent to select the second content by a direct action (e.g., tapping the background content) or by automatically promoting the second content after playing it for a set amount of time (e.g., 10 seconds).
6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: detect a request to switch between the first content from the foreground and the second content from the background, and switch the first content to the background and the second content to the foreground, and control the audio processing unit to simultaneously output the sound of the first content in the background at the preset background volume and the second content in the foreground at the preset foreground volume, in response to detecting the request to switch.
The electronic device described in the first audio playback claim also lets you switch the foreground and background content. If you want to focus on the second audio and put the first audio in the background, the device will swap them: the second audio plays at the normal foreground volume, and the first audio fades to the quieter background volume.
7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the controller is further configured to: detect a request to alter a background main task, and in response to detecting the request to alter, switch the second content from the background to a different second content from the background, and control the audio processing unit to simultaneously output sound of the different second content from the background at the preset background volume with the sound of the first content.
The electronic device described in the first audio playback claim also enables you to change the background content. While the first audio plays at the foreground volume and a second audio is playing quietly in the background, if you search for something new, the device will replace the second audio with the new audio, keeping the first audio playing at its normal volume.
8. The electronic device of claim 7 , wherein the background main comprises a task selected from among a plurality of tasks running in the background.
In the electronic device where you can switch between background audio, the background audio comes from tasks running in the background. This means the background content can be selected from a list of apps running in the background.
9. A method of searching content, the method comprising: outputting sound of first content from a foreground at a preset foreground volume; detecting a request to search for second content; in response to the detected request, simultaneously outputting sound of the second content from a background at a preset background volume with the sound of the first content; receiving a request to select the second content while simultaneously outputting the sounds of the first content and the second content; and switching the second content to the foreground and outputting only the sound of the second content from the foreground, in response to the request to select the second content, wherein the preset foreground volume differs from preset background volume.
A method for searching audio content allows you to listen to two audio sources simultaneously. First, it plays the first audio source at a normal foreground volume. Then, when you search for a second audio source, it plays that audio quietly in the background. If you want to focus on the second audio, you can select it, which makes it the main audio playing at the louder foreground volume, and the original audio stops. The foreground volume is always louder than the background volume.
10. The method of claim 9 , further comprising: receiving a request to return to the first content while simultaneously outputting the sounds of the first content and the second content; and stopping the outputting of the sound of the second content, in response to the request.
The audio searching method lets you easily return to the original content. While listening to two audio sources (one in the foreground, one in the background), you can select to stop playing the background audio. This lets you to focus entirely on the original foreground content.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the request to return to the first content comprises pressing a particular button a preset number of times.
In the audio searching method where you can return to the foreground content, the way you request to return to the foreground audio is done by pressing a specific button a set number of times. For example, pressing the back button might make the background content stop and switch back to the foreground.
12. The method of claim 9 , wherein receiving the request to select the second content comprises one of: detecting a user input for independently outputting the sound of the second content from the foreground; and detecting that the second content is played over a preset period of time.
In the audio searching method, there are two ways to select the second audio to bring it to the foreground. You can either tap the background content (user input), or the device will automatically promote it to the foreground if you listen to it for a specified amount of time.
13. A method of searching for content in a multi-tasking environment the method comprising: outputting a sound of a first task from a foreground at a preset foreground volume; detecting a request to search for a second task from a background main, wherein the request to search for the second task from the background main includes an action for flicking a cover image representing currently executed task; and in response to the detected request, simultaneously outputting a sound of the second task from a background main at a preset background volume with the sound of the first task from the foreground, wherein the preset foreground volume is greater than the preset background volume.
In a multitasking environment, a method allows you to listen to one app (task) normally while previewing another. The first task's audio plays at a normal volume (foreground). When you "flick" through running apps, the audio of the selected background app starts playing quietly along with the foreground audio. The foreground audio is always louder than the background audio.
14. The method of claim 13 , further comprising: receiving a request to switch between the second task from the background main and the first task of the foreground; and in response to the request, switching the first task to the background main and the second task to the foreground, and simultaneously outputting the sound of the second task at the preset foreground volumes and the first task at the preset background volume.
With the method described above of playing the audio of a running task in the background when "flicking" through apps, you can easily switch between the foreground and background tasks. Selecting the background task makes it the foreground task, playing its audio at the normal volume, and the original foreground app's audio is now played quietly in the background.
15. The method of claim 13 , further comprising: receiving a request to alter the second task from the background main; switching the second task to a different second task in the background main and simultaneously outputting sound of the different second task from the background main at the preset background volume with the sound of the first task, in response to the request.
The method of listening to apps running in the background also lets you change the background task. While listening to the foreground task and previewing another app's audio in the background, you can "flick" to a different app. This will replace the current background audio with the new app's audio, while the foreground audio continues to play uninterrupted.
16. The method of claim 13 , wherein the background main comprises a task selected from among a plurality of tasks running in the background.
In the method of searching audio content in a multitasking environment, the background audio is selected from the apps that are already running in the background. This means you are listening to preview audio of other tasks already loaded in device memory.
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October 6, 2015
August 15, 2017
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